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UNDERSTAND
THE MEDIA |
Here are some tips to keep in mind when working with the media.
DO:
· Provide one or more student contacts for campus and mainstream press, to make sure student voices are heard.
· Coordinate information among student contacts so everyone remains informed and mixed messages are minimized.
· Consider creating a name for the coalition of groups that has come together in response to the bias crisis. Such a name illustrates the unified response happening on campus.
· Call the media if the media don't call you. If something is missing from the coverage — student input, balanced responses, basic facts — don't moan about it; change it. Track down reporters or editors, and make sure they have a more complete picture of the incident.
· Make use of media outlets. Write letters to the editor. Find out whether you can write an op-ed piece for a newspaper. Find out whether your group can broadcast Public Service Announcements about upcoming meetings or gatherings on radio or TV stations.
· Make certain there is student input in any web or e-mail materials created or disseminated by the administration.
DON'T:
· Don't allow the administration to speak for you or on your behalf. Speak for yourself and the group you represent.
· Don't speak on behalf of victims unless you have made arrangements to do so and are in contact with members of the victimized group. Never make assumptions about how a victim feels or what a victim wants.
· Don't make assumptions about the administration's motives. Ascribing incorrect motives to the administration, and delivering that message through newspapers, TV or radio news sources, can increase tension and further divide the campus. It's vital to ask the administration directly what its motives are, but it's counterproductive to make guesswork commentary about those motives in the media.
· Don't seek permanent solutions to temporary problems. If you support increased oversight by the administration after a campus newspaper publishes a racist April Fools' edition, that same oversight might work against you the next time student advocates are pitted against the administration on a different issue.
So what happens when you run into problems?
Next > 6 UNDERSTAND THE MEDIA · page 3
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